Can I save this living room or do I need to return the sofas?
Just received 2 English Roll Arm Sofas that I had ordered online, (fabric choice based on a 2 inch swatch). Very disappointed as they do not go at all with my existing furniture or rug. The fabric (a sturdy velvet) is lighter than I expected and doesn’t feel soft to the touch. I need to make some quick decisions, as I only have a few days to return the sofas if that is the route I choose. Do I bite the bullet, pay another $450 in freight charges to return the sofas and start again from ground zero? Or can I make this work, perhaps by buying a rug that ties everything in (or is very neutral) and add throw pillows to the sofas? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Comments (10)The physical make-up of your soil can be critical to your plants ability to achieve as much of its genetic potential as possible. Advising what soil to use is not easy, given the amount of consideration the question deserves. You should use a soil you can water at will to beyond the point of complete saturation, so you're flushing the soil of accumulating salts each time you water; this, w/o you needing to be concerned the soil will remain soggy so long it limits root function and/or wrecks root health. To a very large degree, your soil choice + the size of the root mass after root pruning dictates what size pot you use can or should be. Some things I wrote that should be helpful in answering your questions: What is a good soil? From my perspective, an appropriate medium is a medium that allows us to water to beyond the point of saturation at will, so we're flushing the dissolved solids (salts) that are present in tapwater and fertilizer solutions. These dissolved solids are left behind and accumulate in soils whenever we're forced to water in sips, which is commonly employed as a strategy in order to avoid the sogginess that limits root function and wrecks root health. It's important to realize that a healthy plant is not possible w/o a healthy root system. If you have established goals that include healthy and attractive plants, it's critical that you have a plan to avoid the limitations imposed by over-watering and an accumulation of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil solution. Not every grower fully understands the dilemmic issues associated with inappropriate soils that force the plant to pay a vitality tax resultant of an unhealthy amount of water being retained for extended periods when we water correctly – which is to say, when we flush the soil to limit salt build-up. On one hand, we have the potential for over-watering, and when we act to avoid it by offering dribs and drabs of water here and there, we have high salt levels to deal with. It's easy to see how we all might benefit from use of a soil that allows us to water so we're flushing away excess salts without limiting our plant's vitality via waterlogged soils. What size pot? How large a container ‘can’ or ‘should’ be, depends on the relationship between the mass of the plant material you are working with and your choice of soil. We often concern ourselves with "over-potting" (using a container that is too large), but "over-potting" is a term that arises from a lack of a basic understanding about the relationship we will look at, which logically determines appropriate container size. It's often parroted that you should only move up one container size when "potting-up". The reasoning is, that when potting up to a container more than one size larger, the soil will remain wet too long and cause root rot issues, but it is the size/mass of the plant material you are working with, and the physical properties of the soil you choose that determines both the upper & lower limits of appropriate container size - not a formulaic upward progression of container sizes. In many cases, after root pruning a plant, it may even be appropriate to step down a container size or two, but as you will see, that also depends on the physical properties of the soil you choose. It's not uncommon for me, after a repot/root-pruning to pot in containers as small as 1/5 the size as that which the plant had been growing in prior to the work. 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Jane O’Brien
5 years ago
J J
5 years ago
PROBeverlyFLADeziner
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoIf you keep the pieces, it's in for a penny, in for a pound. I would then embrace the blue and not add neutrals, but add blue and white patterns for pillows, rugs, chairs etc. Blue & White on the walls too.
Jane O’Brien thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
Manon Floreat
5 years agoI agree to return and advise you not to purchase upholstery online. Quality furniture manufactures will have a presence in reputable brick and mortar furniture stores, where you can sit on the piece and inspect its construction. Looking at the sofa, I can see there is a quality issue with the seat cushion, in how the upholstery ripples and the cushion is uneven. I imagine the rest of its construction has quality issues as well. Return it and chalk it up to an expensive lesson learned - do not buy major seating online.
Sofas aside, there is a disconnect between the other choices in your room. The coffee table and area rug are contemporary and the chair is ethno-global. The wall color does nothing to unify your choices.
My recommendation is to determine which is more in line with your vision for the room - the chair or the area rug. I love the chair, so I'd let it take center stage with everything else in a supporting role. I'd lean towards blues with gold accents to tie in your picture frames. For the walls a milky, clean white. Something along the lines of cloud white or white dove by Benjamin Moore.
For quality upholstery, take a look at Lee Industries, carried by Crate and Barrel, who has a good brick and mortar presence. Also, Taylor King and Wesley Hall. They cost, but will last at least a a couple of decades, probably longer. What you bought online, will likely be in a landfill within 3 years. Skip the loveseat and go for two chairs with your suzani as the feature upholstery item.
Jane O’Brien thanked Manon Floreat
emmarene9
5 years agoI would keep the sofas, the chair and the lamp but get rid of the rest.
The restocking fee is $450 and you can instead spend that money on new pieces.
Sorry for the mess I made of your rug but after removing a few articles it could be a nice room.
I like the blue. I am sick of seeing neutral upholstery everywhere.
Jane O’Brien thanked emmarene9Jane O’Brien
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoThank you everyone for your comments and suggestions. I really appreciate it, especially the individuals who took the time to either search for different options or created a new look using just some of my pieces. A couple of things--I think that the sofas are well-made. They are made in the US and were built from scratch for my order. According to their website, their sofas are:
- Bench-made in North Carolina by skilled craftspeople.
- Custom-engineered frame built using blocks in all corners, double-dowel or mortise-and-tenon joinery, metal fasteners, and glue.
- Leggett & Platt's Elite Series Soft Luxe pocketed coil seat support system.
- Seat cushions made from multi-density foam core, wrapped in channel-stitched down for plush yet supportive comfort.
- Back pillows stuffed with 50/50 feather/down blend.
I took away the accent chair and was surprised at how different the room looks. It makes me like the sofas a lot more. They don't look nearly as pale blue as they did next to the navy in the chair. Moreover, they pull in the blue in the window treatment. I do agree with the people who said that I had competing styles but am wondering if I just change out the rug, if the room will come together. I'm still not in love with the feel of the velvet, but it isn't horrible. I know some people suggested that I take away the existing coffee table as well. I have some traditional coffee tables in storage that I could use, but my husband really likes this one. It is a solid marble table made in Italy. The glass/marble end table is also from Italy and the other end table is a vintage Henredon. I can always put the accent chair in a bedroom and purchase a neutral chair down the road. I'm attaching photos of the room without the chair as well as the rest of the living room, so that you can see it in its entirety. I welcome your suggestions -- please forgive me for the number of photos. Thank you!
groveraxle
5 years agoNo matter what you decide about the sofas, that rug and that chair are incompatible.
Jane O’Brien thanked groveraxle
Dawn Y
5 years ago
PROJane O’Brien thanked Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
pink_peony
5 years agoI don’t mind the sofa color but it won’t work with everything else you have. I worry about the rippling in the seat cushions. That will only get worse over time and honestly that should be your bargaining chip should your return them. I would call immediately and tell them that the cushions arent lYong flat and the pleating on the English roll isn’t lying flat either. That is a defect in the upholstery job. Velvet has stretch and they pulled that incorrectly and for that you shouldn’t have to pay a restocking fee. As far as color. I think a lot can be done with it . I thought Beverlys suggestions were great you could also incorporate greens.
pink_peony
5 years agoHonestly the more i look at your pictures the more upholstery defects i see. Even if the color was perfect the upholstery job is sub par. Argue your point on this!!!! You shouldn’t pay a restocking fee for poor quality .
Jane O’Brien thanked pink_peonyJane O’Brien
5 years agoManon Floreat
5 years agoAnd there's this uneven business with the cushion and welting. It's not good. It's certainly worth a try to contact the manufacturer, show them the pictures and ask them what they can do for you.
Jane O’Brien thanked Manon FloreatJane O’Brien
5 years agoK Laurence
5 years ago
Chisos
5 years agoJane O’Brien
5 years agoJc Shetterley
3 years agoIt has taken me awhile to take pictures of my living room since I made some changes. I did return the two sofas (painful—not only did they charge me a $450 shipping charge, they also charged a $250 cleaning fee, as our white dog rubbed against one of the sofas and there were strands of white fur on the back of one. Easily removed with a lint brush, but whatever, lesson learned). We bought two new sofas and had pillows made to coordinate the rest of the room. Took down the valance and made a cornice board as a replacement. Reupholstered the accent chair and bought a new rug. Took apart the entertainment center and painted each piece. Changed the wall color and the artwork. Very pleased with the results. Thanks again everyone for your suggestions!
Laura Villar
3 years agoemmarene9
3 years ago
jpp221